During the operation of a motor vehicle vibrations can occur in an exhaust system. Such vibrations can be excited for example through the combustion engine or through road irregularities. Accordingly, so-called engine excitations and road excitations are distinguished from each other. Particularly heavy components of the exhaust system, such as a catalytic converter or a particle filter, are decisive to the vibration behaviour because of their greater mass. In addition, the engine-induced vibration excitation is introduced into the vibration system, that is the exhaust system, via components fixed to the combustion engine of the vehicle, for example to the engine housing and/or to the transmission housing, so that components of the exhaust system near the engine are subjected to a significantly more intensive vibration excitation than components distant from the engine. In order to now support such a component on the periphery of the exhaust system, that is on the peripheral structure of the vehicle, a holding device of the type mentioned at the outset can be employed. Said holding device can be fastened to a component part of the exhaust system with the help of a first connecting point and to the respective structure of the vehicle with a second connecting point. When using such a holding device the fact that the respective component part of the exhaust system has to be able to move relative to the adjacent structure of the vehicle in order to be able to offset thermal expansion effects is problematic. If a holding device, which for offsetting such thermal heat expansions possesses an adequate elasticity, is used, this regularly also allows undesirable component vibrations.
Such vibrations or relative movements constitute a major mechanical loading of the components concerned, that is particularly the exhaust system, the vehicle structure and the holding device.